Electrical connector

ABSTRACT

A multiple-contact electrical plug and mating receptacle having coacting contacts and contact pins with mating polarizing guide posts and slide sockets to facilitate easy mating of the plug and receptacle, with minimum tendency toward canting or binding of the parts; the assembly being designed to facilitate manufacture by molding the individual contacts in place in the dielectric plug while the leading ends of such contacts are still jointed and then shearing the ends of the contact pins.

B I Unite States Patent [191 [111 3,731,259

Occhipinti 1 May 1, 1973 [54] ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR 3,l78,670 4/1965 Daniel eta]. ..339/65 Inventor: Carl occhipinfi, Melrose Park 1. 3,530,427 9/1970 Stauder et a]. ..339/65 [73] Assignee: Bunker Ramo Corporation, Oak Primary Examiner-Joseph H. McGlynn Brook, [11. AttorneyFrederick M. Arbuckle 22 Filed: July 2, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl' 144552 A multiple-contact electrical plug and mating receptacle having coacting contacts and contact pins with 52 0.5.01. ..339/66 M, 339/186 M mating Polarizing guide posts and slide sockets to 51 Int. Cl. non 13/62 facilitate easy mating of the P s and receptacle with [58] Field of Search ..339/65 66 176 minimum tendency Ward camihg binding of the 6 parts; the assembly being designed to facilitate manufacture by molding the individual contacts in place in the dielectric plug while the leading ends of such con- [56] References Cited tacts are still jointed and then shearing the ends of the UNITED STATES PATENTS ac p s- 3,636,503 1/1972 Bemutz et al ..339/186 M 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 25 I H Fl Fl ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There has long been a demand for mating connector plugs and receptacles wherein the contacts of each are arranged in a long straight row so that the connector parts may be easily attached to printed circuit boards or other types of electrical apparatus. While widely used, the space requirements of such connectors are such that difficulty has been experienced in providing smooth and positive coupling. Further, the plugs and sockets and prior art designs have often been such that the individual contacts must be separately formed and assembled piecc-by-piece in the connector, thus rendering the manufacturing operations thereof relatively expensive.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the general aim of the present invention to avoid the known shortcomings of prior art types with a connector that is at once simple, reliable, smooth acting and relatively inexpensive. More specifically, it is among the objects of the invention to provide polarizing and guide means having less tendency to cant or bind than encountered with similar connectors of comparable size and to simultaneously provide an arrangement such that economical mounting of the contacts is achieved by molding the entire group of contacts as an integral part in a dielectric plug body, yet with the parts so proportioned as to permit fast and easy shearing of the contacts from their carrier strip.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a multiple-contact electrical connector plug as contemplated by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the plug trated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the plug and one of the male contacts carried thereby, the view being taken substantially on the plane of the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an end plan view of the connector plug which may be considered as viewing the plug of FIG. 1 from the bottom thereof as illustrated in the drawings;

FIG. 5 is a detail cross-sectional view of one of the polarizing posts of the plug with its associated contacts.

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a connector receptacle adapted to receive and establish electrical contact with the contacts of the plug of FIG. 1, the view being taken with the left-hand portion thereof broken away to show the center channel of the receptacle with the female contacts removed, and the right-hand side of the figure including a broken-away segment of the plugof FIG. 1 with dotted line showings of the contacts and polarizing posts serving to interconnect the plug and receptacle.

FIG. 7 is a detail transverse cross-sectional view taken on the plane of the line 7-7 of FIG. 6, showing one exemplary type of female contact in place.

FIG. 8 is a fragmental end view of one side of the receptacle of FIG. 6 which may be considered as taken on the plane of the line 8-8 thereof to show one of the polarizing slide sockets of the receptacle, and

FIG. 9 is a similar fragmental end view of the opposite side of the receptacle body, the view being considered as taken on the plane of the line 8-8 to show the opposite slide socket.

illus- THE PLUG The connector plug of the present device, illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive, comprises a main insulating mount or body portion 10 shown as being relatively wide in its transverse dimension as compared to its rather thin profile (FIG. 2) and while the dimensional proportions of the particular connector will vary according to the number of contacts provided, it is usual practice to mount a comparatively large number of electrical contacts 12 in spaces side-by-side relation so that the transverse dimension of the unit is somewhat greater than the vertical dimension as viewed in FIG. 1. Conveniently, the insulating mount 10 may be a solid dielectric member with the individual contacts 12 molded therein in the process of manufacture, with each of the contacts having a reduced dimension integral lead 14, with the end portions of the alternate leads bent outwardly to provide spaced soldering pins 16 and 18.

If desired, apertures such as 20 (FIG. 3) or recesses 22 may be formed in the flat surface 24 of the body portion to facilitate the molding operation or to provide for desired clearances in soldering to a conventional circuit board. Also, the insulating mount 10 may be provided with mounting holes 26 for attachment to a printed circuit board or other apparatus.

Smooth sliding coupling of the contacts 12 and parts related I thereto is assured by providing the plug and receptacle with paired polarizing guide posts and sockets, the pairs being of different dimensional shapes located at the opposite ends of the row of contacts 12. Thus, the guide post 28 at the left of FIG. 1 is of smaller cross section (FIG. 4) than the corresponding guide post 30 at the right. These dimensional differences in the guide posts are shown by the dimension line X" of FIG. 4 (illustrating the thickness of the guide post 28) and the corresponding dimension line X-X showing the thickness of the guide post 30. Each post, however, has its lower surfaces tapered to facilitate entrance into the coacting slide sockets of the receptacle as will appear, and each is provided with an integral webvbearing against and supporting the closest adjacent contact 12. That is, the guide post 28 includes the web 29, and the guide post 30 includes the web 31 (FIGS. 1 & 4).

THE RECEPTACLE FIGS. 6 to 9 inclusive illustrate a connector receptacle adapted to receive and mate with the plug of FIGS. 1 to 5. As with the plug, the receptacle may consist of a single unitary molded dielectric insulating body 32, having a central channel 34 (FIG. 7) tapered at its mouth 36 to receive the contacts of the plug and extending between the opposite end walls 38 and 40 as best seen in FIG. 6. The channel is dimensioned to receive the individual contact pins 12 of the plug and has integrally molded transverse slots 42 with internal shoulders 44 and 46 to interlock with bifurcated metallie spring contacts 48 between the thin front and back walls 54 of the body. As shown, the contact 48 is of the type covered in prior French Pat. application No. /23034 filed in the name of Jean-Claude Bouley, but it should be understood that the precise form of contact utilized does not constitute a part of the present invention and that the connector here shown may be used in connection with many and varied contact designs.

In order to guide the plug into the receptacle in a smooth easy mating motion and prevent undue canting or binding between the parts as they are coupled or uncoupled, the receptacle body 32 is provided with a pair of apertures or slide sockets of a size and shape spacing corresponding to the cross-sectional shapes of the guide or pilot posts 28 and 30 of the plug. Thus, as viewed in FIG. 6, the receptacle has a slide socket 50 with a tapered mouth to receive the post 28 and at the other side has a similar socket 52 of spacing, proportions, and cross-sectional area to receive the guide post 30 of the plug. Thus, the slide sockets 50 and 52 are correspondingly shaped to the different dimensions of guide posts 28 and 30 to act in combination as a polarizing means in the coupling of the plug and receptacle. It is to particularly be noted, however, that the length of the plug contacts (illustrated by the dimension line I. in FIG. 6) is substantially less than the length of the guide posts L-L illustrated in the same figure.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. An electrical connector comprising a coacting mating plug and receptacle, the plug including a plurality of conductive contacts in aligned parallel relationship with each other and the receptacle having a corresponding plurality of contacts adapted to individually mate with the plug contacts with cooperating guide posts and slide sockets on the plug and receptacle, the coacting slide surfaces between said guide posts and sockets being substantially longer than the length of the contacts themselves to achieve a smooth acting and reliable coupling of the plug of the receptacle with minimum tendency toward canting or binding with respect to each other, the guide posts being positioned adjacent to and in side-by-side relation with one of the contacts and with each of the guide posts having a web portion parallel with and in abutting side-by-side relation with said contact, the web portions being substantially thinner in dimension than the contact against which they each abut.

2. An electrical connector comprising a coacting mating plug and receptacle, the plug including a plurality of conductive contacts in aligned parallel relationship with each other and the receptacle having a corresponding plurality of contacts adapted to individually mate with the plug contacts with cooperating guide posts and slide sockets on the plug and receptacle, the coacting slide surfaces between said guide posts and sockets being substantially longer than the length of the contacts themselves to achieve a smooth acting and reliable coupling of the plug of the receptacle with minimum tendency toward canting or binding with respect to each other, the leading ends of the plug contacts being aligned with each other in a transverse direction with respect to the axis thereof, the guide posts extending substantially beyond the line of termination of the individual contacts together with the slide sockets within the receptacle being adapted to receive the contacts of the plug, and the guide posts being each positioned adjacent to and in side-by-side relation with one of the contacts and with each of the guide posts having a web portion parallel with and in abutting side-by-side relation with said contact in said transverse direction.

An electrical connector according to claim 2 wherein the guide posts are each dimensionally different in cross section and the slide sockets are correspondingly shaped to receive said guide posts and to act in combination with said posts as polarizing means in the coupling of said plug and receptacle.

UNHED SKATES PATENT @FFECE fiERTlFiQA'iE GE QORREQTWN Patent No. 3,731,259 L Dated May 1, 1973 InV nt Carl Oochipinfti It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the drawings, Figure L the reference numeral 16 should be placed to the left of the reference element 18 and the left line extending to numeral 18 should be redirected to the numeral 16 to conform Figure Lg. to the numerical representations in Figure l.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of February 1971;

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M .FLETCHER JR C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM PO-105O (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 5 3% U.5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE t 1959 0-366-33, 

1. An electrical connector comprising a coacting mating plug and receptacle, the plug including a plurality of conductive contacts in aligned parallel relationship with each other and the receptacle having a corresponding plurality of contacts adapted to individually mate with the plug contacts with cooperating guide posts and slide sockets on the plug and receptacle, the coacting slide surfaces between said guide posts and sockets being substantially longer than the length of the contacts themselves to achieve a smooth acting and reliable coupling of the plug of the receptacle with minimum tendency toward canting or binding with respect to each other, the guide posts being positioned adjacent to and in side-by-side relation with one of the contacts and with each of the guide posts having a web portion parallel with and in abutting side-by-side relation with said contact, the web portions being substantially thinner in dimension than the contact against which they each abut.
 2. An electrical connector comprising a coacting mating plug and receptacle, the plug including a plurality of conductive contacts in aligned parallel relationship with each other and the receptacle having a corresponding plurality of contacts adapted to individually mate with the plug contacts with cooperating guide posts and slide sockets on the plug and receptacle, the coacting slide surfaces between said guide posts and sockets being substantially longer than the length of the contacts themselves to achieve a smooth acting and reliable coupling of the plug of the receptacle with minimum tendency toward canting or binding with respect to each other, the leading ends of the plug contacts being aligned with each other in a transverse direction with respect to the axis thereof, the guide posts extending substantially beyond the line of termination of the individual contacts together with the slide sockets within the receptacle being adapted to receive the contacts of the plug, and the guide posts being each positioned adjacent to and in side-by-side relation with one of the contacts and with each of the guide posts having a web portion parallel with and in abutting side-by-side relation with said contact in said transverse direction.
 3. An electrical connector according to claim 2 wherein the guide posts are each dimensionally different in cross section and the slide sockets are correspondingly shaped to receive said guide posts and to act in combination with said posts as polarizing means in the coupling of said plug and receptacle. 